The problem of maintaining presentable nails, and particularly fingernails, has always been of prime importance, particularly to women. This is particularly true where it is desired to enhance the appearance of the nail by increasing its length, and particularly in those instances where the nail to be so enhanced is broken or damaged, thin or brittle, or is incapable of being naturally developed to a desired length. Artificial nails have become a common part of everyday life to many women, and therefore, are of great commercial importance.
The conventional prior art form for the application of artificial fingernail prosthesis to the fingernails of humans for the purpose of creating an artificial fingernail which is extended beyond its natural length has been commercially available for a substantial period of time. The prior art form, as shown for example in FIG. 1, described in more detail below, was patented in the United States in 1957 (U.S. Pat. No. 2,799,282). It comprises, generally, a circular or oval shaped paper form with a circular or oval shaped cut-out and an open end, so that the overall configuration somewhat resembles a horseshoe shape with a broad platform area defining in part the shape of the artificial nail. One side of the form is coated with adhesive material.
However, there is a problem with the prior art artificial fingernail prosthesis forms in that as a result of their design they fail to conform to the finger, the nail bed, and to maintain a fixed, secured position adjacent certain stress points when the form is fitted to the finger and fingernail. The stress points on the attachment of the form to the finger, when they fail, result in the form attempting to retain its original flattened state, as compared with its curved state when applied to the finger. This makes it necessary for the person sculpting the artificial nails to take extra care to ensure that the prior art nail form does not flatten, at least until the artificial fingernail dries.
Further, in the case of bitten nails, or nails which are cut very short, the folds of skin on the sides of the nail bed are typically raised and protruding forward toward the tip of the finger. This makes it difficult, if not impossible, for conventional prior art forms to carefully and accurately abut the natural nail. As a result, there is an airspace between the form and the end of the nail, and in addition, there may be a gap at the corners of the artificial nail, all of which are crucial stress points of any sculptured nail. Obviously, if any of the stress points are thereby weakened, the length of time it takes before the artificial nail breaks off is substantially decreased thereby causing a decreased useful life of the nail treatment.
As shown in FIG. 1a, when a prior art form is applied to a shortened nail, an airspace or gap 10 exists between the end of the nail 12 and the concave end of the form 14. This is shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b. Sometimes glue is used to fill in the airspace 10. Other times the acrylic is simply layered over the nail including the airspace which is later sculptured to preference.
As can be seen, stress points 15 and 17, which are critical to the application of a good, strong artificial nail, barely contact the ends of the nail 16 and 18. As such, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to provide a good, solid anchor for the artificial fingernail in the event of a shortened or bitten nail.
As one mode of overcoming the problem of applying the prior art forms to shorten or bitten nails, glue is typically used to hold the nail form in place and cover a portion of the gap or airspace in order to attempt to effectively apply artificial nails to such situations. These and other problems are overcome with the use of the present invention artificial fingernail prosthesis form.